High School

Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School

The arts serve as an adhesive that unifies other subject areas in the high school. An “arts as core” program requires that the arts – visual arts, dance, theatre, music, and architecture – be included as core subjects taught within the total school curriculum.

Fort Hayes is a strong college-preparatory school that allows students to explore their subjects from three points of view: as creators, as performers, and as consumers.

In addition to performing and visual arts courses, all students are required to take three years of either Spanish, French, Japanese, or Italian, beginning in the ninth grade. Mathematics courses begin with Math I and progress through AP Calculus. A mathematics course is also required during the student’s senior year.

Twelve Advanced Placement (AP) courses are available, and students who qualify may also consider opportunities in Post Secondary Options at nearby Columbus State or at The Ohio State University.

No sports programs are available at the school, though many students participate in sports at other Columbus high schools. Students participate in the artistic resources in the Columbus community, receive frequent visitations by guest artists, and are involved in community service and service learning projects.

Success at the high school requires a global and multicultural understanding of society, knowledge and skills within each of the academic disciplines, and an openness towards continuous and diverse artistic experiences. This high-powered college-preparatory curriculum strives to create a livelong love of, not only the arts, but of the academics. Students may wonder: Is Fort Hayes hard? Not if they remember the unofficial motto of the school: “Books, paper, pencil, and a good attitude!”